What Does My Child's School or Sports Physical Include?

Sum­mer days are fly­ing by, and before you know it, your lit­tle one will be walk­ing through those school doors again. Between shop­ping for new back­packs and orga­niz­ing car­pools, there’s one impor­tant item that might slip your mind: your child’s phys­i­cal exam.

Whether your kid­do is start­ing kinder­garten for the first time or gear­ing up for anoth­er sea­son on the bas­ket­ball court, under­stand­ing Illi­nois phys­i­cal require­ments can help you stay ahead of the game. We’re here to walk you through every­thing you need to know, mak­ing this process as smooth as pos­si­ble for both you and your child.

Illi­nois School Phys­i­cal Require­ments: What You Need to Know

Let’s start with the basics. School-aged chil­dren should get reg­u­lar check-ups. The Amer­i­can Acad­e­my of Pedi­atrics rec­om­mends com­plet­ing a well-child vis­it once a year from age 3 to 21, but there are also cer­tain check-ups that schools require. Illi­nois takes stu­dent health seri­ous­ly, and for good rea­son. These require­ments help keep all our kids healthy and ready to learn. 

Key Facts at a Glance

• Illi­nois requires school phys­i­cal exams before enter­ing kinder­garten, 6^th grade, and 9^th grade — and for all stu­dents trans­fer­ring into the state or country.
• Phys­i­cals must be com­plet­ed with­in one year of the school start date and sub­mit­ted by Octo­ber 15 (some dis­tricts may have ear­li­er deadlines).
• Exams include: vision and hear­ing screen­ings, growth checks, immu­niza­tions, sco­l­io­sis screen­ing, and a full health his­to­ry review.
• Sports phys­i­cals are sep­a­rate from school phys­i­cals and are required year­ly for Illi­nois student-athletes.
• Duly Health and Care providers offer school and sports phys­i­cals across Chicagoland, includ­ing Naperville, Plain­field, and sur­round­ing suburbs.

Also read: The Back-to-School Checklist

Grade-Spe­cif­ic Requirements

• Kinder­garten & Preschool Stu­dents: If your child is enter­ing school for the first time, they’ll need a com­plete phys­i­cal exam. This includes a thor­ough health assess­ment and proof that all required immu­niza­tions are cur­rent. Think of it as your child’s health pass­port for their edu­ca­tion­al journey.
• 6^th Grade Stu­dents: Mid­dle school brings new chal­lenges, and that includes updat­ed health require­ments. All stu­dents enter­ing 6^th grade need anoth­er phys­i­cal exam, regard­less of when their last one was completed.
• 9^th Grade Stu­dents: High school is a big tran­si­tion, and Illi­nois requires anoth­er com­pre­hen­sive phys­i­cal as your teen enters this new chap­ter. This exam often includes addi­tion­al screen­ings that are impor­tant for ado­les­cent health.
• Trans­fer Stu­dents: Mov­ing to Illi­nois from anoth­er state? Your child will need a new phys­i­cal exam to ensure they meet our state’s spe­cif­ic health require­ments. We know relo­cat­ing can be stress­ful, and we’re here to help make this part easier.

Under­stand­ing Illi­nois Deadlines

Illi­nois school phys­i­cal forms must be sub­mit­ted by Octo­ber 15^th. How­ev­er, many indi­vid­ual school dis­tricts set ear­li­er dead­lines, so we always rec­om­mend check­ing with your spe­cif­ic school. Some dis­tricts require forms by the first day of school, while oth­ers may give you a few extra weeks.

What’s Includ­ed in School Physicals

When you bring your child in for their school phys­i­cal, you can expect a com­pre­hen­sive health assess­ment that cov­ers sev­er­al key areas. Let’s walk through what hap­pens dur­ing these impor­tant appointments.

Health His­to­ry Review

We’ll start by updat­ing your child’s com­plete health sto­ry. This con­ver­sa­tion cov­ers more than you might expect, and it’s all designed to give us the clear­est pic­ture of your child’s health. We’ll discuss:

• Any surg­eries or hos­pi­tal stays your child has had
• Ongo­ing med­ical con­di­tions like asth­ma, birth defects, aller­gies, or diabetes
• Med­ica­tions your child takes regularly
• Fam­i­ly med­ical his­to­ry, includ­ing seri­ous con­di­tions in close relatives
• Any con­cern­ing symp­toms you’ve noticed
• Pre­vi­ous injuries or illnesses
• Alco­hol, drug, or tobac­co use

Don’t wor­ry if you can’t remem­ber every detail. We’re here to help you think through your child’s health jour­ney, and even small details can be impor­tant for keep­ing them healthy at school.

Phys­i­cal Exam­i­na­tion and Screenings

The hands-on por­tion of the exam is thor­ough but gen­tle. We’ll check your child’s:

• Vision and hear­ing to catch any issues that might affect learning
• Heart and lungs through lis­ten­ing with a stethoscope
• Abdomen to check for any con­cern­ing signs
• Height and weight to track healthy growth patterns
• Skin for any unusu­al marks or conditions
• Blood pres­sure to ensure their heart is healthy
• Spine to screen for sco­l­io­sis, espe­cial­ly impor­tant dur­ing growth spurts

We also assess their over­all devel­op­ment to make sure they’re meet­ing the mile­stones for their age group.

Immu­niza­tions: Keep­ing Every­one Safe

Vac­cines are one of the most impor­tant ways we pro­tect not just your child, but their entire school com­mu­ni­ty. Illi­nois requires spe­cif­ic immu­niza­tions, and we’ll make sure your child is cur­rent on all of them.

Required Vac­cines Include:

• DTaP (Diph­the­ria, Tetanus, Pertussis)
• MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
• Polio vac­cine
• Vari­cel­la (Chick­en­pox)
• Hepati­tis B
• Haemophilus influen­zae type b (Hib)
• Pneu­mo­coc­cal (PCV)
• Meningo­coc­cal vac­cine (for cer­tain age groups)

Rec­om­mend­ed but Option­al Vaccines:

• HPV vac­cine (for adolescents)
• Annu­al flu vaccine
• COVID-19 vac­cine

Lab­o­ra­to­ry Tests When Needed

While not always required, we may rec­om­mend cer­tain lab tests based on your child’s age, health his­to­ry, or spe­cif­ic risk fac­tors. These might include:

• Blood work to check for ane­mia, iron defi­cien­cy, dia­betes, or cho­les­terol levels
• Urine tests to screen for dia­betes or kid­ney function
• Lead screen­ing for younger chil­dren, espe­cial­ly if they live in old­er homes
• Tuber­cu­lo­sis screen­ing if there are spe­cif­ic risk factors

These tests help us catch poten­tial health issues ear­ly, when they’re most treatable.

Sports Phys­i­cals

If your child is eager to join a sports team, they’ll need a sports phys­i­cal in addi­tion to their reg­u­lar school phys­i­cal. These spe­cial­ized exams focus on mak­ing sure your young ath­lete can safe­ly par­tic­i­pate in their cho­sen sport.

Sports Phys­i­cal vs School Phys­i­cal: What’s the Difference?

While both exams cov­er basic health assess­ments, sports phys­i­cals dig deep­er into areas that direct­ly affect ath­let­ic per­for­mance and safe­ty. We pay spe­cial atten­tion to:

• Heart health 
• Bone and joint function 
• Neu­ro­log­i­cal health
• Heat tol­er­ance & hydra­tion education
• Nutri­tion­al status

Impor­tant tim­ing note: Chil­dren who par­tic­i­pate in school-spon­sored ath­let­ic pro­grams in Illi­nois are required to get a sports phys­i­cal every year. This ensures ongo­ing safe­ty as your child grows and devel­ops through­out their ath­let­ic jour­ney. They do not need a sep­a­rate sports phys­i­cal in sixth and ninth grades, when school phys­i­cals are required.

Com­pre­hen­sive Ath­let­ic Screening

Dur­ing your child’s sports phys­i­cal, we’ll con­duct spe­cial­ized tests that go beyond the stan­dard school physical:

• Car­dio­vas­cu­lar Assess­ment: We’ll lis­ten care­ful­ly to your child’s heart and may rec­om­mend an elec­tro­car­dio­gram (ECG) or car­di­ol­o­gy eval­u­a­tion if we detect any irreg­u­lar­i­ties or if your child par­tic­i­pates in cer­tain high-inten­si­ty sports.
• Mus­cu­loskele­tal Eval­u­a­tion: We’ll check your child’s joints, mus­cles, and bones, look­ing for any weak­ness­es or pre­vi­ous injuries that might put them at risk dur­ing sports activities.
• Neu­ro­log­i­cal Screen­ing: This includes check­ing reflex­es, bal­ance, and coor­di­na­tion to ensure your child’s ner­vous sys­tem is func­tion­ing prop­er­ly for ath­let­ic activities.
• Nutri­tion­al Assess­ment: We’ll eval­u­ate your child’s eat­ing habits, weight pat­terns, and over­all nutri­tion­al sta­tus to ensure they have the ener­gy and nutri­ents need­ed for opti­mal ath­let­ic per­for­mance and recovery.
• Men­tal Health Eval­u­a­tion: Sports can bring both excite­ment and pres­sure. We’ll check in with your child about their emo­tion­al well­be­ing, stress lev­els, and how they’re han­dling the demands of com­pet­i­tive activities.

We under­stand that every young ath­lete is unique. For female ath­letes, we’ll dis­cuss top­ics like men­stru­a­tion and how it might affect train­ing and performance.

For ath­letes with dis­abil­i­ties, we’ll work togeth­er to ensure they have the sup­port and accom­mo­da­tions need­ed to par­tic­i­pate safe­ly and suc­cess­ful­ly in their cho­sen sports.

Some Illi­nois schools require elec­tro­car­dio­grams (ECGs) for cer­tain sports or activ­i­ties. This sim­ple, pain­less test mea­sures your child’s heart rhythm and can detect poten­tial car­diac issues that might not be obvi­ous dur­ing a reg­u­lar exam.

A Word from Our Doctor: 

“Annu­al phys­i­cals can reveal under­ly­ing health con­cerns that may not show symp­toms right away, such as mur­murs or joint insta­bil­i­ty. By catch­ing these issues before symp­toms occur, I can reduce risk of seri­ous injury or ill­ness in my patients, espe­cial­ly with athletes.”

— Dr. Sarah Khan, MD, Pedi­a­tri­cian at Duly Health and Care in Naperville, Illinois 

Don’t let hid­den health issues side­line your child’s school year or ath­let­ic dreams – sched­ule their exam today. Our expe­ri­enced Duly Health and Care providers make the process quick and thor­ough, giv­ing you peace of mind and your child the health clear­ance they need to thrive.

Sched­ule an appoint­ment today >

How to Pre­pare for Your Child’s Physical

A lit­tle prepa­ra­tion goes a long way in mak­ing your child’s phys­i­cal exam smooth and com­pre­hen­sive. Here’s how to set every­one up for success.

Sched­ul­ing Tips and Timing

• Start Ear­ly: We rec­om­mend sched­ul­ing your child’s phys­i­cal as soon as sum­mer vaca­tion begins. Our team pro­vides thou­sands of school phys­i­cals each year, and appoint­ment slots fill up quick­ly dur­ing peak season.
• Allow Extra Time: If we dis­cov­er some­thing that needs fol­low-up test­ing, you’ll want plen­ty of time before school starts. Sched­ul­ing ear­ly gives you buffer time for any addi­tion­al appoint­ments or tests.
• Con­sid­er Your Child’s Sched­ule: Think about your child’s sum­mer activ­i­ties when sched­ul­ing. A phys­i­cal exam the day before swim camp might not be ide­al, espe­cial­ly if immu­niza­tions are needed.

Prepar­ing Your Child for the Visit

• Age-Appro­pri­ate Con­ver­sa­tions: For younger chil­dren, explain the vis­it in sim­ple terms: ​“The doc­tor is going to make sure you’re healthy and ready for school.” For old­er kids, you can be more spe­cif­ic about what to expect.
• Address Con­cerns: If your child is ner­vous about shots, acknowl­edge their feel­ings and explain why vac­cines are impor­tant. Some­times bring­ing a favorite stuffed ani­mal or com­fort item can help.
• Involve Them in Prepa­ra­tion: For old­er chil­dren and teens, involve them in gath­er­ing their health infor­ma­tion. This helps them become more aware of their own health history.

Required Forms and Doc­u­men­ta­tion Checklist

Before Your Vis­it, Gather:

• School health forms (avail­able on your school’s web­site or at our clinics)
• Pre­vi­ous med­ical records, if you’re new to our practice
• Cur­rent med­ica­tion list with dosages
• Insur­ance cards and identification

What We’ll Provide:

• Com­plet­ed and signed school forms
• Immu­niza­tion records
• After-vis­it sum­ma­ry with any recommendations
• Sports clear­ance forms if applicable

Ques­tions to Ask Your Provider

Con­sid­er Ask­ing About:

• Any con­cerns you have about your child’s growth or development
• Ques­tions about screen time, sleep habits, or nutrition
• Spe­cif­ic sports safe­ty concerns
• When to sched­ule the next physical
• Any fol­low-up appoint­ments needed

The Next Steps

Even if your child isn’t an ath­lete or they aren’t in a grade where they are required to have a school phys­i­cal, we rec­om­mend that all chil­dren get a check-up every year. See­ing their pri­ma­ry care provider reg­u­lar­ly is a great oppor­tu­ni­ty for you to receive help­ful insight into how your child is grow­ing and devel­op­ing, and what to expect as they con­tin­ue to grow.

Don’t wait until the last minute – sched­ule your child’s school or sports phys­i­cal with a Duly Health and Care provider today. Our expe­ri­enced pedi­a­tri­cians and fam­i­ly med­i­cine doc­tors make the process quick and stress-free, so your child can focus on what mat­ters most: learn­ing and playing.